APPLICANT REQUESTS: The widow of the former service member (FSM) requests that he be awarded the Purple Heart for injuries suffered in World War II.
APPLICANT STATES: That the FSMs discharge reads that he received no wounds while in the service, which is incorrect. He was wounded in Italy and hospitalized for his wounds and was eventually retired because of his disability.
EVIDENCE OF RECORD: The FSMs military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973. Information herein was obtained from reconstructed records.
He was inducted on 23 January 1941 and served 1 year, 1 month and 26 days in the European Theater of Operations. He was honorably discharged for disability reasons on 26 December 1944.
His awards include the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the American Defense Service Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.
The FSMs enlisted record reflects the entry None in the block entitled wounds received in service. Medical records show, however, that he was admitted to an Army hospital in Italy in November 1943 for treatment of prostatitis and mixed psycho-neurosis and evacuated to the States for treatment.
A board of medical officers determined that he was permanently disabled due to chronic urethritis that was aggravated by service in a combat area. His condition was not amenable to further treatment in an Army hospital. Therefore, he was discharged on 26 December 1944.
Army Regulation 600-8-22, Military Awards, provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained as a result of hostile action. Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that the wound was the result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION: Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record, applicable law and regulations, it is concluded:
1. Based on the available personnel and medical records, there is no evidence that the FSM suffered any combat related injuries during his service that would qualify him for award of the Purple Heart.
2. While the FSMs record reflects an apparently excellent soldier, his service was impaired by a disease process rather than wounds or injuries that could be attributable to hostile action.
3. In order to justify correction of a military record the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board, or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear, that the record is in error or unjust. The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy this requirement.
4. In view of the foregoing, there appears to be no basis for granting the applicants request.
DETERMINATION: The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.
BOARD VOTE:
GRANT
GRANT FORMAL HEARING
DENY APPLICATION
Karl F. Schneider
Acting Director
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